May 17
1800s 1900s *1903 - Cool Papa Bell is born in Starkville, Mississippi. Bell will enjoy a successful career in the Negro Leagues from 1922 to 1946. An outfielder with blazing speed, Bell will be selected to the Hall of Fame in 1974, joining fellow Negro Leagues stars Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and Monte Irvin. *1905 - Waseda University of Tokyo defeated Los Angeles High School, 5–3, in the first game of an American tour. It was the first baseball game ever played by Japanese outside Japan. Waseda started a powerhouse tradition at Japan's Big Six universities that continues today. *1912 - Historic Fenway Park in Boston was officially dedicated, as the Red Sox hosted the Chicago White Sox. Playing in front of an overflow crowd, the Red Sox lose the game, 5–2. 1910s *1915 - Chicago Cubs pitcher George "Zip" Zabel came out of the bullpen with two outs in the first inning, and winded up with a 4–3, 19-inning victory over the Brooklyn Robins in the longest relief job ever in major league history. 1920s *1925 - At League Park, Tris Speaker of the Cleveland Indians collected his 3,000th hit off Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators. Zachary led Washington to a 2–1 victory. George Uhle was the loser. 1930s *1939 - The first baseball game ever televised — Princeton against Columbia at Baker Field — was watched by a handful of viewers via W2XBS in New York City. Bill Stern announced the ten-inning victory of visiting Princeton, 2–1. Reviewing the game the next day, the New York Times reported, "it is difficult to see how this sort of thing can catch the public fancy." 1940s *1941 - The city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania declared a legal holiday to honor the Philadelphia Athletics team manager on Connie Mack Day at Shibe Park. *1945 - For the fourth time in four days, every American League game was postponed because of rain. 1950s 1960s *1961 - Roger Maris hit his first home run of the season at Yankee Stadium (fourth overall) on his way to a major league season-record 61. *1963 - Don Nottebart of the Houston Colt .45s pitched the first no-hitter in franchise history, leading Houston past the visiting Philadelphia Phillies 4–1. 1970s *1970 - During a 7–6 Atlanta loss to Cincinnati in the second game of a doubleheader, Hank Aaron collected his 3,000th career hit and his 570th home run. Aaron, the ninth man to amass 3,000 hits, is the first to also have 500 home runs. *1971 - Tommy McCraw of the new Washington Senators hit one of the shortest home runs in major league history. McCraw’s 140-foot pop fly fall in between three Cleveland Indians, shortstop Jack Heidemann and outfielders Vada Pinson and John Lowenstein. When the three players collided, McCraw circled the bases for an Inside-the-park home run. *1973 - California Angels center fielder Bobby Valentine tried to scale a wall to prevent a Dick Green home run during a 5–4 loss to the Oakland Athletics. Valentine catched his spikes in the wall and fractured his leg. The injury will ruin his career. *1977 - The Chicago Cubs hit seven home runs in beating the San Diego Padres, 23–6, at Wrigley Field. Larry Biittner (two), Gene Clines, Steve Ontiveros, Dave Rosello, Jerry Morales and Bobby Murcer homered for the Cubs, with Biitner, Morales, and Murcer hitting consecutive shots in the fifth inning. *1978 - Lee Lacy hit a pinch-hit home run to help the Dodgers in the 10–1 victory over Pittsburgh. It was Lacy's third consecutive home run in a pinch-hitting role, setting a major league record. His previous blasts were on May 2 and May 6. *1979 - With the wind really blowing out at Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies joined in a wild ten-inning slugfest won by the Phillies, 23–22. Dave Kingman hit three home runs and six RBI for the Cubs while teammate Bill Buckner had a grand slam and seven RBI. Mike Schmidt belted two home runs, including the game-winner in the tenth inning. Bob Boone, Randy Lerch, and Garry Maddox also homered for the Phillies and Steve Ontiveros and Jerry Martin did it for the Cubs. The eleven home runs between the two teams tied a major league game-record. The contest included 50 hits. 1980s *1984 - Alan Wiggins of the San Diego Padres tied a National League record by stealing five bases in one game. Wiggings joined three others who have performed the feat: Dan McGann in 1904, Davey Lopes in 1974 and Lonnie Smith in 1982. *1985 - The Texas Rangers named Bobby Valentine as their new manager, replacing the departed Doug Rader. Under Rader, the Rangers had posted a record of 9-23, the worst in the major leagues. With Valentine at the helm, the Rangers will show some improvement, but will still finish last in the American League West. 1990s *1992: **Catcher Gary Carter, back with the Montreal Expos, joined Bob Boone and Carlton Fisk in the exclusive 2,000 games caught club. **The Toronto Blue Jays surpassed one million in attendance earlier than any team in major league history. It took the Blue Jays 21 dates to draw 1,006,294. The previous record was shared by the 1991 Blue Jays and the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers. *1998 - David Wells pitched the 13th perfect game in modern major league history as the Yankees beat Minnesota, 4–0. Wells, whose perfecto was the first by a Yankees pitcher since Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series, also set an American League record by retiring 37 batters in a row, dating back to his start on May 12 against Kansas City. Minnesota shortstop Pat Meares flied out to right fielder Paul O'Neill to complete the perfect afternoon at Yankee Stadium. *2001 - Ike Brown died from cancer in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 59. A popular member of the Detroit Tigers for six seasons, Brown was one of the last Negro League players that still active in the majors during the 1970s. The versatile Brown played every infield and outfield position but center field during his Tigers stint. *2002 - Erubiel Durazo hit three home runs with a double and nine RBI to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 12–9 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Bank One Ballpark. Births *1860 - Frank Mountain, pitcher (d. 1939) *1892 - Hal Carlson, pitcher (d. 1930) *1903 - Cool Papa Bell, Hall of Fame Negro League player (d. 1991) *1932 - Billy Hoeft, All-Star pitcher (d. 2010) *1933 - Ozzie Virgil, infielder *1948 - Carlos May, All-Star outfielder *1952 - Porfi Altamirano, pitcher *1957 - Pascual Pérez, All-Star pitcher *1962 - Greg Mathews, pitcher *1974 - Wiki González, catcher *1975 - Scott Seabol, infielder *1976 - José Guillén, outfielder *1978 - Carlos Peña, infielder Deaths *1961 - Otto Knabe, infielder (b. 1884) *1969 - Pants Rowland, manager (b. 1879) *1982 - Dixie Walker, All-Star outfielder (b. 1910) *1989 - Specs Toporcer, infielder (b. 1899) *1995 - Catfish Metkovich, outfielder (b. 1920) *2001 - Ike Brown, utility (b. 1942) *2002 - Joe Black, pitcher (b. 1924) *2004 - Buster Narum, pitcher (b. 1940)